Glasgow schoolkids in free iPod scheme

Free iPods and Xboxes are available to Glasgow kids, but only if they eat healthy school meals.

By
Macworld staff
, | 19 May 05

Glasgow City Council plans to bribe children to eat healthy food by dangling iPods and Xboxes as rewards for doing so.

Following in the wake of Jamie Oliver's successful campaign to improve school dinners in the UK, Glasgow's scheme is the first such incentive scheme to encourage pupils to try better food. If it succeeds, it could be introduced across Scotland.

It relies on a swipecard which collects points each time they eat good food. They simply need to collect enough points to exchange them for an Xbox or iPod, reports Glasgow newspaper, The Herald.

The scheme will be rolled out to 30,000 secondary school pupils, who will be able to exchange points for 'Pods at the end of each school term. Book tokens and cinema tickets are also available.

Glasgow council has already introduced free fruit, free milk, a free "big breakfast service" and free mains-fed water coolers in all schools. A local expert praised the scheme for offering "positive reinforcement" to make good choices of food.